Thursday, April 19, 2007

Beginning of each week, I start off singing “A B C D…” to myself while little S looks on quizzically. No I am not trying to teach her alphabets and neither have I taken the role of Cookie Monster. I am trying to remind myself of the letter of the week for Nupur’s A-Z of Indian Vegetables.

I start the week searching for an Indian Dish with the said letter whatever that might be. But I want to think up a nice exotic Bengali Name, or maybe a more exquisite Sanskrit One, or even one in Pali in my search of something different. I want the name to be lyrical, difficult to pronounce, a name that would give others no clue as to what I am talking about. I might be talking about my every day dal-chawal but I want a name like Lens Culinaris to adorn it.

What’s in a Name you would say or rather Shakespeare would say. But then Shakespeare never knew about k – K – Kkusm did he? Neither did he know of some of my esteemed Blogger friends who took the extreme step to change their names mid-way of their dazzling Blogging careers and some who are contemplating to change theirs. So as I say theirs lot in a name.

When I hear a lyrical name like “Ghugra”, I have a vision of Rajasthani Women dancing in their colourful “Ghahgras” and I desperately want to eat whatever “Ghugra” is. Same with a name like “Mor Khuzambhu”, the name says it all, I want to yell “Dil Mange More” like Aamir Khan did and even add a “Aha” at the end.

So as I chomped on my “Lau Ghonto” last week I was still searching for the “L” word…But this week I am adamant, I let Lau (Lauki in Hindi) pass just because the name seemed very next door-ish but no not this week. I am not going to search for any veggie dish with “M” and let the week pass. I am going to send Nupur whatever I am having for lunch and she better like my regular Dal-Chawal with M for Mango thrown in. And hey whats better the dal I cooked is Matar Dal (Yellow Split Peas) , one more M, so that makes it M squared for Nupur’s A-Z of Indian Vegetables.

Tak er Dal in Bengali means a Dal which is a little sour in taste. Tamarind not being used much in Bengali cuisine its the green mango which is used to achieve the desired sourness. Mango Dal is a simple Dal cooked with raw green Mangoes usually during the hot hot summer months in India. It had to be cooked during summer because that was the Mango Season of course. Its beautiful how we always associated certain foods with season in India because of their sole availability during those times.

My beloved “Patel Brothers” manages to get his share of Raw Mangoes all year round so I can afford to eat Mango Dal with my fireplace on. Doesn’t have just the same effect though. Mango Dal and White Rice on a hot summer afternoon with the windows shut, the draperies drawn to hush the harsh light and the fan on the ceiling humming and stirring the hot humid air is just another story

Raw Green Mango ~ ½ chopped into thick slices. Depending on your love for sourness and the sourness of the mangoes you might want to increase this amount. Decerasing is not a good option thoughGreen Chillies ~ 4 slit

Mustard seeds ~ 3/4th tspTurmeric ~ ½ tspSalt ~ according to tasteSugar ~ 1 tsp. More if you are a sweet Bong :D like my Ma

Water ~ 2 cups or more

How I Did It

Wash the Dal and pressure cook with twice the amount of water. Time taken to pressure cook is little more than Masoor Dal but less than Toor Dal. Now go figure.In my Futura pressure cooker it took 4 minutesMeanwhile peel the green mango and chop into longitudinal thick piecesHeat Oil in a Kadhai/Frying PanAdd 3/4th tsp of Mustard seeds and 4 slit green chilliesThe mustards will splutter so cover it if you are afraidAdd the mango pieces and sprinkle 1/2 tsp of turmeric.Sauté the mango for a couple of minutesWhisk the pressure cooked Dal with a Wire Whisk or Spoon and add it to the KadhaiMix well and cook for a minute.Add about 2 cups of water and salt and cover and cook. You may need to add a little more water if the dal turns too thick. The result should not be wtaery thoughCook till the mangoes are doneAdd 1 tsp of sugar and take it off the heatHave it with White Rice and any other veggies on the side

Note: Matar Dal is not same as Chana Dal though both look almost same. You can also try this recipe with Masoor Dal but never with Chana Dal . When using Masoor Dal a popular spice for tempering is Kalo Jeera or Kalonji

Trivia:The yellow Split Peas or Matar Dal have an earthier flavor than green peas. Scandinavians like to use them in soups, while the British use them in their pease pudding. It's best to buy them split, since split peas don't need to be soaked and cook fairly quickly. Source:Cook's Thesarus

Sandeepa, although I never taste tak dal, your beautiful dish already make me drooooool....I was lucky to have a mango tree in yard when I lived in Singapore, too bad I didn;t try cooking Indian food that time. But I saved all green mangos to my mailman who was a very kind Indian guy.

Wow, I really admire your dedication to the A - Z event! Wish I could camp out at your place, heh heh! Such imagination! As it is, I think too much about food, but can't pull this off because my cooking is very mood-driven! :) At best, I'll find out how to say "garlic" in different languages and name the dish according to the letter of the week, heh heh..

Pali? Ha ha ha ha ha - you've no idea how much that made me laugh, and I never think about Pali unless I'm visiting some historical site, nowadays. H I L A R I O U S! We Telugus make a mean mango daal too, with toor daal, but. And we leave the seed in the daal, that's the piece de resistance!

hahaha...Shakespeare and Kkusum...and dil maange more.....hahahhaha....you crack me up. Mango daal and hot rice on a summer afternoon,underneath the Zenith Fan....yes, it indeed is another story...you have the art of making anyone nostalgic.

AnhMango salad would be very refershing. I love the Malaysian Mango Shrimp/Chicken

GattinaWow would loved to be the mailman :)

ShilpaDon't worry, same here. Its just that I was doing this anyway that I am sending it to Nupur. Even mine is driven by my modd. But some of these events are exciting and so I try to mould my mood ;-)

SraWe leave the seed too. This one was too tender and had a tender seed. I love to suck on the seed !!!

PadmajaShall try your version next

Priyapaka aam eshe geche bajar e ?

BWMCheck out the A-Z at Nupur's place. Lots of innovative stuff happens there

You, Bad, Bad girl you. Using Kay and me to justify your obsession with lyrical food names. On the other hand, I have never found a bong word that I didn't find lyrical. Seriously, why would you even look anywhere else?

That's a great write up, Sandeepa. Raw mangoes in my area are not as sour in my area. I end up using double the quantity everytime to get that khatta taste :(

sandeepa, that took me right back to my home in Kolkata. I don't think I have had tok dal for at least 10 years because I always go back to Kolkata during winter. I need to pressure my local store to stock green mangoes and try this!!

SunitaSame here, mostly its Masoor for me too. This time I tried with Matar as it is more authentic it seems. I don't even buy Matar Dal regularly

NupurThats a lovely name. Love it, no wonder you have a PhD

TSGod tos ee you. It would be Polar I think for us or Usha

ShnBut as Vee said sometimes the mangoes are not "khatta" enough here. Works ok for me though

SigDo you need some crazy glue :)

BeeAnd for S I can go "Sour Mango Dal" and so on but then why oh why I can never cook up a dish called at least "choli" if not "ghugra". No I will not settle for "Chole" :D

MandiraTomar katha shune ei shomoy tei khide peye jache :)

VeeThanks for the Bong Word = lyrical compliment, but seriously does "Charchari" sound lyrical ?Right about the sourness of Mangoes, even my Ma was saying the same. However our food usually doesn't need a lot of sourness so I am ok

ShivapriyaI usually use Masoor but this time tried Yellow Split Peas as it is the more traditional one. Never tried with Toor or Moong yet

SwapnaYou are so right about the sugar thing. Your friend is a true blue Bong. I have cut my sugar intake and so you will not see much sugar in my food though. But my Ma uses fair amount of sugar in her cooking

SupriyaThanks for your nice idea about Bengali words, its indeed lyrical and rounded

MallikaWhat no Raw Mango in UK ? And they claim to be the curry chefs ?

He he, Sandeepa, the ghughra and ghaghra thing is really funny! btw, tak-er-daal sounds lyrical too :-D. So, what do you call this one in Pali btw :-D.

You sure have a way with words, sweetie! and i am jealous, you all seem to be enjoying raw mangoes: first Bee, then Sig and now you! If i get raw mangoes, i am going to try all these recipes! meanwhile, amchoor ya dried raw mango slices se kaam chalana padega

aha! Thats awesome! onek din aage I had asked you for it. So happy. I need to go to Patel brothers immediately. :) I am inviting people for lunch on Sunday for a full Bong experience. I will make this daal then :)

The most popular dal we get in these parts are the yellow and green split peas. Today I went to the supermarket and stock up lots of split peas because I want to experiement with all the dals I see posted here and on other blogs. Thanks for the mango dal. Another one to add to the list.

hmm, wouldn't you pronounce charchari as chorchori as in not exactly 'o' but kind of rounded out 'a'. I am also guessing the 'ch' is not pronounced the way it is in chair but more like the badi 'ch' in hindi. In that case, it definitely is lyrical. Am I making sense or killing bangla bhasha?

:-) Good one Sandeepa! Your writeup was a good read. made me smile :-) I am like you, obsessed with Nupur's event.. and I start thinking what are cooking today...with what vegetable! But I'm not as innovative with the names u see :-)Love your recipe! sounds simple and unique... I might just have to start cooking some bengali food at home.. what with all the yummy charcharis and the dals :-)

I had once made mango dal using Indiras recipe and it was yum.Sandeepa in what dishes can we use kalonji?have you blogged any recipe using this spice.I have never cooked with this spice and have got a packet to try something with it.

Sandeepa, LOL. Nice post Sandeepa. Unlike you I somehow till date couldn't make it or couldn't participate in the A-Z event. Got to get your kind of dedication I guess. I love the tangy flavor of Mango Dal. Your presentation and that kadai is lovely .

Hi Sandeepa,Never made mango dal, but have seen it blogged a few times before. Your dal look so simple and tempting. Mango dal and white rice with the drapes and ceiling fan and all.....who wouldnt want to be in that room? So what if it is a sizzling 42 degrees outside! Lovely write-up.

this might get lost in th flurry of comments here, but i wanted to tell you i lately discovered ur blog and love it totally......the recipes, the li'l trivia that u add, the pics and the wit that shines thro' ur words.......the blog's a pleasant discovery. I'm no cook and my school life does not allow me enough time to cook but am a great foodie... am a non-bengali married to a foodie Bengali (are there any other kinds ??? :DDD) recently.....and look fwd to using ur recipe to make my way to my man's heart thro' his ever-rumbling tummy...:DDDDgreetings from Florida..:)

Thanks for the recipe. The mango pieces can be cooked/boiled in advance and water drained off to remove bitterness.Rest process as suggested by you. Without adding a sweetener, the taste will not be what the traditional Bong likes! For those cutting down on sugar may try a sugar substitute like " Sugar Free Natura" ( Note: Don't try "Sugar Free Gold" which is not recommended for cooking)

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Predominantly a Bong, who loves being a Mom and loves to cook among other things for the li'l one and the big ones.She loves to write too and you will find her food spiced up with stories. Mainly a collection of Bengali Recipes with other kinds thrown in, in good measure. A Snapshot of Bengali Cuisine